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The Quebec Liberal Party is on course to form a majority government, according to an opinion poll showing the party well ahead of the Parti Qubcois.

The survey, conducted by polling firm Lger, is the first extensive survey of the campaign and corroborates all the signs that PQs campaign started faltering around the time it unveiled star candidate Pierre-Karl Pladeau and got entangled into debates about sovereignty and a referendum.

SOURCE: Leger

At the same time, pollster Christian Bourque, Lgers executive vice-president, said the Liberals lead in key ridings is still thin and the dynamic of the campaign has changed, with front-running Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard under fire from all his rivals.

The adjusted results for the Lger poll:

Liberals: 40 per cent

PQ: 33 per cent

Coalition Avenir Qubec: 15 per cent

Quebec Solidaire: 9 per cent

The level of support for the PQ has dropped only marginally compared with previous polls, while Mr. Couillards Liberals have grown at the expense of the second opposition party, Franois Legaults Coalition Avenir Qubec.

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Quebec Liberals on track to majority, poll shows

Quebecs Liberal Party has increased its lead over the separatist Parti Quebecois and may be on track to form a majority government in the April 7 election, TVA television network reported.

Forty percent of respondents in a new Leger poll would have voted for the opposition Liberals, compared with 33 percent for the Parti Quebecois and 15 percent for the Coalition Avenir Quebec, had an election been held earlier this month, TVA said.

That result probably would be enough for the Liberals to form a majority government, TVA cited Leger President Jean-Marc Leger as saying. The Liberals had 35 percent support when the election was called on March 5, TVA said.

Leger polled 3,692 Quebec residents via the Internet from March 21 to 23. Results are considered to be accurate to within 1.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

To contact the reporter on this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net

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Quebec Liberals Widen Lead Over Separatists in Poll

Premier Pauline Marois struggled to regain control of a floundering Parti Qubcois election campaign amid signs the Quebec Liberal Party is widening its lead among voters in the final weeks of the election race and could be on track to form a majority government.

The PQ Leader found herself on the defensive Tuesday as Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard, now the perceived front-runner in the race, challenged her to release her familys financial records, and she refused.

Ms. Marois, eager to shift away from the topics of sovereignty and a referendum, tried to push the campaign onto the terrain of Liberal integrity. But Mr. Couillard struck back, announcing he will release his 2012 personal income tax returns as well as details on his personal assets and those of his spouse.

Here we have a practical test on transparency and integrity, he said as called on other party leaders to do the same.

Ms. Marois declined, dismissing Mr. Couillards gambit as little more than a diversion.

The Liberal Leaders move appeared to be aimed specifically at Ms. Maroiss husband, businessman Claude Blanchet, although Mr. Couillard denied this.

Late Tuesday, the PQ confirmed party officials met in February with investigators from the province's anti-corruption squad, known as UPAC. No specific allegations of wrongdoing were revealed and no search warrants or arrests were executed.

Quebec's corruption inquiry has heard the province's three main political parties all accepted illegal donations over the years, with the Liberals taking the bulk of the cash.

But news of the "informal meeting," as the PQ described it, promised to blunt the line of attack on alleged Liberal corruption they have tried to renew.

The PQ has fumbled with early campaign issues such as sovereignty while the Liberals appear to be gaining momentum toward the April 7 vote. An opinion survey by Lger for the Journal de Montral-Journal de Qubec the first extensive poll of the election showed the Liberals surging ahead with 40 per cent of popular support, ahead of the PQ with 33 per cent, the Coalition Avenir Qubec with 15 per cent and Qubec Solidaire at 9 per cent.

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Marois on defensive as Liberals widen lead in Quebec election

The New Democrats found themselves under fire from both sides of the House on Monday over recent media reports on taxpayer-funded party outreach offices in Montreal and Quebec City.

In addition to the Quebec offices, the party website recently posted a job listing for a Saskatoon-based "outreach" officer who would provide assistance to MPs outside the capital, despite the fact that the New Democrats haven't elected an MP in the province since 2000.

In a letter to Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, Liberal ethics critic Scott Andrews called on the shadowy all-party Board of Internal Economy to investigate what he described as "a disturbing pattern of possible use of Parliamentary resources for party activities."

Conservative MP Blake Richards went even further, issuing a press release that claimed the NDP had been "caught red-handed misusing taxpayer dollars," and urging the board to "recover the inappropriately used taxpayer money from the NDP."

The NDP, for its part, have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

On Monday afternoon, Government Whip and Board spokesman John Duncan convened a press conference to announce that the Board has agreed to send a letter to Elections Canada on the NDP's use of bulk mailings outside NDP ridings, in order to "ensure that Elections Canada is aware of any costs that could be attributable to election spending."

Earlier this month, the Liberals lodged a formal complaint with the electoral agency over letters sent to voters in Bourassa last November, which they say arrived after the byelection was called, and should count as an election expense for the NDP candidate, Stephane Moraille, who was ultimately defeated by Liberal MP Emmanuel Dubourg.

The New Democrats, however, don't appear to be particularly daunted by the tag-team attacks.

Just after question period wrapped up, New Democrat MP Isabelle Morin rose in the House to accuse Montreal-area Liberal MP Marc Garneau of breaking House rules and potentially violating her privilege as a member by running ads in a Westmount newspaper inviting people outside his riding including, she noted, those in her riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grace to "join him for a coffee."

Under Commons administration rules, she argued, MPs can only fund advertisements out of their office budgets in order to communicate with their constituents.

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NDP, Liberals trade accusations over taxpayer-funded offices, advertising

Ontarios Liberal government is planning a budget crafted to be hard for the NDP to defeat, including left-friendly measures such as better welfare benefits.

Despite Premier Kathleen Wynnes bullish posturing in recent weeks, government sources say the Liberals are wary of a spring vote particularly after two by-election losses last month and will design a budget New Democrats can support in order to prevent one. The spending plan will have no poison pills, the sources said.

The Grits have moved left in recent months, easing off the aggressive austerity that characterized Dalton McGuintys final year as premier. Last fall, Finance Minister Charles Sousa said he is prepared to miss interim deficit reduction targets and will rely on economic growth to bring the budget to balance in four years. Now, the government is signalling, the deficit might even grow next year.

On Monday, Ms. Wynne said she will not enter talks with the NDP as in previous years, but hinted she will put New Democrat-friendly measures in the budget.

We are not going to be negotiating with either of the parties, she said after a photo-op at a Toronto bakery.

Were listening to input from many, many different places, and there will be much in this budget that could be supported, quite frankly, by both [the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives].

One New Democrat source said that, for the party to back the budget, the government would have to incorporate NDP ideas on things such as electricity costs and job creation.

In the past month, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath has outlined several policies, including $100 rebates for hydro ratepayers and paying up to $5,000 to Ontario companies for each new worker they hire.

The source suggested New Democrats are wary of being seen as junior partners to the Liberals and need results on their specific demands. This would allow Ms. Horwath to claim victory.

NDP insiders at Queens Park are privately optimistic about their partys electoral prospects, believing they could squeeze the Liberals out in many parts of the province especially the southwest and fight directly with the Tories.

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Ontarios Wynne crafts NDP-friendly budget to counter spring vote